Runelords 35.0 - A Curse Brewing
Eamon and Shadliss set into the tunnel. It was pitch black, but luckily, Shadliss had brought a lantern. As they followed the Shivering Ones' directions, they began to find thicker and thicker spider webs coating every rocky surface. As they neared the exit, a swarm of spiders, ranging in size from a coin to a fist to a human head, crawled out to try and feed upon them. As they ran, a pair of gigantic spiders, easily the size of horses, crawled out as well. Eamon split both creatures in twain, but as their flesh rent asunder, thousands of smaller spiders poured out of the husks, enveloping them. Disgusted, the pair bolted for the cave mouth. Stepping out cautiously, they saw that it was night and that the cavern entrance ejected them onto an almost-sheer canyon wall. The two tried to climb down the rock face; Shadliss slipped, but Eamon managed to catch her and help her regain her footing. Unfortunately, they were still assaulted by the arachnids, and they were forced to jump into the raging river below. Swept away, the two eventually managed to climb onto an outcropping far downstream. Soaked and exhausted, they were nonetheless pleased that they had escaped from the fortress. Flopping down right there, they dried themselves out as best as they could and slept under the stars. The next morning, they had little choice but to climb the rocky canyon and try to make their way back in the direction towards the path they had traveled from Turtleback Ferry, hoping that they could eventually reunite with the others. Days following Eamon's and Shadliss' harrowing experience in the tunnels, the now-healthy Virgil and Khyr prepared to return to Jorgenfist to hunt down their abandoned teammates. They paid Rajdeep well for his assistance, and set out for Fort Rannick to check on Luna's progress with the puzzle box before leaving. Having just now had time to go through the assorted items Virgil had grabbed from the watchpost near Jorgenfist, they found a particularly fancy gem-encrusted eyepatch that tickled Khyr's fancy. When they arrived, they found Silthior lounging about on the cliff face contentedly. Ilsa was much less pleased: a large fire drake was not a good unexpected house guest. The pair tried to buy back her good graces by gifting her with some spare weapons, and she indulged their efforts. As they went towards the fort, the woman mentioned once more the extremely peculiar hermetic behaviour of Luna, which once again Khyr tried to downplay in a most obtrusive manner. Khyr also got Virgil to put on the eyepatch and poked fun, joking that he looked like an old pirate; seafaring songs were not far behind. As the two men burst in on Luna, she was still absorbed with the box, having done nothing but work with it for the days the men had recuperated in the infirmary. She snappishly told them off for interrupting, as she was getting very close; the pair stepped out once more and returned to visiting with Ilsa. Unfortunately, with the distraction, Luna slipped and ruined all of the progress she had made with the locks. Frustrated, she put down the box and moved to go join the men on the ramparts outside. As she went, Zara made mention of something she had noticed that she was sure would pique Luna's interest: a curse still lingered in Khyrralien. While it was too nascent for her to be certain of its full power, it was necromantic and would undoubtedly be better served strengthening Luna than wasted in its current task of killing Khyr. Somewhat shocked by this news, Luna jogged out and shouted up to Khyr, Virgil and Ilsa, explaining what little she knew. Virgil went pale at the news: it sounded strikingly similar to the curse that had turned his uncle Ryuji into a ice-aligned vampire. Khyr, however, took the turn of events lightly: at first he denied that Zara knew what she was talking about, and then declared that, based on the marginal explanation Virgil had given, the curse was probably quite lovely. He would be able to experience death without having to stay dead, he'd regain his immortality, and if Virgil's uncle could continue to lead a normal, boring life, then it couldn't be that bad of a curse. Virgil argued somewhat lamely, as he fretted in several different directions without a clear goal, before Khyr tut-tutted him, told him to be ready to leave shortly as they had much more pressing business than this, and left with Silthior to find food before they needed to start their flight. Meanwhile, Luna, still standing on the courtyard below them, shrugged and returned to her guard duty, intending to start studying the ritual she would need to transfer the curse; she hadn't really heard any of the conversation that had gone on above her, and figured that Khyr would certainly want the curse taken away as he started to feel its effects and the truth of it was made clear. Virgil implored Ilsa for advice; she had none, having next to no context for anything that they were speaking of. She had deduced, by the end of the conversation, that Luna was undead herself, and was frankly more concerned about that then what had transpired between Virgil and Khyr. At a loss, Virgil decided to run back to town to ask Rajdeep if he could cast Sending. Whether or not anything could be done, a curse that set in after killing a cold undead would certainly be of interest to his uncle.Category:Rise of the Runelords